January 25, 2011

Chris Sale is the 25th of MLB.com’s 2011 Top 50 prospects

That talent also earned the southpaw spot No. 25 on MLB.com’s list of Top 50 Prospects, officially released on Tuesday night. Sale was the lone White Sox prospect on the list, coming in just behind fellow 2010 draftee, Baltimore’s Manny Machado.

As the 13th selection overall in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft, Sale became the lone player to reach the Majors from that particular class. The idea arrived upon shortly after the pick was to use Sale as a big league reliever just months after he was anchoring the Florida Gulf Coast University rotation, although his future was as a starter. This potential promotion came with the assumption he could prove his mettle during Minor League stops at Class A Winston-Salem and Triple-A Charlotte, and Sale gave up six hits and struck out a combined 19 over 10 1/3 innings thrown for the Dash and Knights.

Statistically speaking: Combining his brief Minor League stops and his time in the big leagues, Sale gave up just 21 hits in 33 2/3 innings while striking out 51 and walking 16. He had a combined 2.14 ERA, a 13.7 K/9 ratio and a .178 batting average against.

Scouting report: Sale showed that he has big league-quality closer stuff, but he’s also got an arsenal that should put him in a rotation soon. As a starter, his fastball was up to 94 mph in college; he gained a tick or two out of the pen. It’s got plenty of sinking movement to get ground balls. His changeup has a chance to be a plus pitch, and his breaking ball looked sharp during his pro debut. He’s very mature and has outstanding mound presence. Very thin, some were concerned about his durability coming out of the Draft.

Upside potential: The White Sox want to develop him as a starter, and that’s where he should be. He has the chance to be at the top of the rotation in the future.

They said it: “He has lots of things to get better on for him to be a starter. I mean, you are throwing 120 pitches per outing instead of 15. But he has the makings of a good left-handed pitcher, and if the organization said ‘make Chris Sale a starter,’ we roll up our sleeves and go to work.” — White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper

He said it: “During the season, I was always going, going, going, so I didn’t really get to sit down and think about what was going on. I never got time to sit down and think about it. Now, it’s like, ‘Man, what a ride!’ It was fun, I really enjoyed it. ” — at the Rookie Career Development Program, about his quick ascent to Chicago